St. Louis-area man accused of deadly wrong-way crash

CLAYTON (AP) - A suburban St. Louis man was accused of drunkenly causing a wrong-way freeway crash that killed a father of two.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported St. Louis County prosecutors charged 53-year-old James E. Hughes of Richmond Heights with first-degree involuntary manslaughter and driving with a revoked license.

Investigators said Hughes' blood-alcohol level was more than twice the state's legal threshold when he drove the wrong way on Interstate 170 early on Jan. 10 and crashed into an oncoming car driven by 25-year-old Collin Loveless of Maryland Heights.

Loveless died at the scene.

The newspaper reported that Loveless was heading home from a going-away party in University City for a friend who was moving.